The Childhood I Never Had
by Crystal Prism
Summary: Naruto is given ten days to live the childhood he never had. The Rookie Nine and the Sand Trio are given the job of taking care of him. Along the way, they find out that Naruto isn't all he seems.


DISCLAIMER: Naruto is not mine.

**PROLOGUE**:

Uzumaki Naruto was sleeping peacefully.

"Stupid villagers... can't even let me get some sleep... won't even give me peace at this time of the night..." Naruto cursed drowsily.

... Ok, let's rephrase that.

Uzumaki Naruto was _attempting_ to get some peaceful sleep. It was the first night of the new year and people were celebrating some festival he couldn't be bothered to learn the name of. Naruto was suffering from a hangover due to yesterday's party where Naruto had accidentally drunk what he thought was juice but was in actuality alcohol. Inexperienced with alcohol, Naruto was knocked out after the first few sips. When he woke up, he was having a roaring headache and that had put him in a foul mood. The villagers were more afraid of him than usual and his friends learnt quickly not to get in his way.

However, that's all besides the point. The point was that he desperately wanted to get some much needed sleep and the noise from outside was preventing him from doing so. Unable to do anything and too tired to summon the energy to shout at the inconsiderate people outside to quieten down, he just sat on his bed, pillow in his arms and cursing the villagers to hell and back.

Naruto resisted the temptation to hit his head on his wall. He really needed sleep. How was he going to become Hokage if he doesn't even have the energy to do a Henge? Running out of curses, Naruto turned to praying to a God he doesn't believe exists. "Oh Kami-sama, please make them shut up so that I can get some sleep," he thought.

Finally, his prays were answered. An hour after the clock struck midnight, the celebration was finally over and the streets were finally emptying. The noise had at long last became softer and more inaudible. He could finally get some sleep.

Resting his head on his pillow, Naruto closed his eyes, sighing blissfully in the process. It continued for half an hour before a crash in his kitchen woke him up again. Contrary to popular belief, Naruto was a very light sleeper and it doesn't help that his kitchen was right next to his bedroom. Growling in a way not unlike an angry fox, he stomped into the kitchen to find out what had caused the noise. When he finds the idiot who woke him up, he is so going to pay.

Naruto looked around his kitchen. It was pitch-black. Switching the light on, he saw that his pot was out of its place on the stove. Suddenly, he heard something behind him and then it stopped just as suddenly. Turning around slowly, Naruto readied the kunai that he had brought along with him. When he was fully turned, he was staring right into the face of the invader. "Boo," a deep voice said and Naruto jumped a step back.

Next thing he knew, he was sitting on his butt and looking at a very strangely dressed man. He looked about 70 plus years old and was about 175 centimetres tall and he was so pale he was almost white. His white hair was short and curly. He was wearing a full-length plain white... dress?

"The hell?" Naruto thought when he noticed light surrounding his invader's person. "Now, now," his invader said, "it's not nice to curse." Naruto just stared at him ridiculously. Naruto wasn't stupid. He knew exactly where the limits of the type of clothing one could wear out in the public and this was pushing the limits. And how did he know what he was thinking?

The old man just looked at him smiling and said, "I know everything." Naruto, who had snapped back to his senses by this time, jumped on his feet and pointed the kunai at the intruder. "Look, I don't care who the hell you think you are or why you are here but get out of my house so that I can get some sleep before I chop you into pieces with this kunai."

The old man just smiled again. "Please hear me out. The faster you hear me out, the faster you can get your sleep. And believe me when I say that I'm not leaving this space until I have finished what I'm here to do." Naruto took one look at the old man's determined face and knew that he was not getting any sleep until the old man had said his piece. "Fine, but make it quick," he sighed and sat back down.

"Thank you," the old man said, "first of all, I am who you humans call Kami-sama." Naruto gave him a "you are ridiculous" look. "Believe it or not, I really am Kami-sama."

"Stop and hold. What you are saying is that I have God in my kitchen? Oh please, give me a break."

"It is true. You remember that wish you made less than an hour ago? The one where you wished for some sleep?"

"Yeah..."

"I granted it didn't I? If I'm not God, then how did I hear your wish and grant it? How did I know that you were cursing in your thoughts otherwise?" Naruto looked thoughtful. Come to think of it, it _did_ make some sense...

So as not to waste anymore time, he decided to believe it and told "God" so. "Good," Kami-sama said. "Now, as for my purpose. I am here to grant you a childhood." The word "childhood" made Naruto look up in surprise. Along with parents, childhood is something he will never have. Hate, fear and isolation forces one to grow up a lot younger than all the other children, no matter how optimistic one is.

"I have witnessed your twelve years of life. Your trials, sufferings, happiness, triumps and even your pranks." At the last word, Kami-sama's eyes seems to twinkle. Naruto had the decency to blush. "The point is, you grew up a lot faster than I would like. Than anyone would like. After much thought and persuasion, I have finally made the decision to let you experience childhood. You are quite a favourite amongst the Gods you know." That said, Naruto didn't even have the time to blink before smoke surrounded him and he started shrinking. After 30 agonising seconds, the smoke cleared and in place of the twelve year old, was a two year old Naruto who was asleep on the floor.

Covering the shivering body with a blanket, Kami-sama left a note and with one last look at the sleeping figure, disappeared without a trace.

**END PROLOGUE**


End file.
